The Optimisation of Laser Welding and Mig/Mag – Laser Hybrid Welding of Thick Steel Sheets
J.F. Coutouly, P. Deprez, J. Demonchaux and A. I. Koruk
This article is about the study of combination between arc and laser welding to improve the quality of welding thick steels sheets. In the first part, the general principles of combining such welding techniques and the main interests of the various authors are discussed. In the second part, practical results of welding thick steels with an high power CO2 laser beam are presented, and in particular the influence of parameters such as protection gas composition, flow, welding speed, focal point position and beam mode. In the third part, the results obtained with a hybrid process using the same materials and the same laser source are discussed.